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Citizens engaging & watching government for a better PhilippinesWed, 07 Dec 2016 17:15:50 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7https://i0.wp.com/blogwatch.tv/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/juanvote-blogwatch.png?fit=32%2C21http://blogwatch.tv
323223943863Isn’t it ironic? Trump saving PH-US ties, Duterte’s battle against oligarchs, guilt by groufie (Part 2 of 2)http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/isnt-ironic-trump-saving-ph-us-ties-dutertes-battle-oligarchs-guilt-groufie-part-2-2/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/isnt-ironic-trump-saving-ph-us-ties-dutertes-battle-oligarchs-guilt-groufie-part-2-2/#respondWed, 07 Dec 2016 16:52:21 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18410Continued from Part 1 Guilt by picture taking This week the Senate conducted a hearing on the death of Mayor Espinosa (allegedly a case of EJK) where the issue of De Lima’s connection to Kerwin Espinosa was discussed once more. Notably, the Senate hearing spent a good amount of time treating De Lima’s photo with Kerwin Espinosa as if it were some substantial evidence. Dick Gordon, for one, made it a point to raise several questions and his usual monologues to highlight De Lima’s alleged involvement. He succeeded in convincing Dayan to change his version of the date when De Lima supposedly met Kerwin Espinosa in Baguio. Duterte’s supporters apparently found the “guilt-by-picture-taking” scene in the Senate very useful. A few hours after the hearing, at least one pro-Duterte YouTube account already uploaded a video with a sensational text. If you happen to be accessing YouTube from the Philippines and you regularly view politics or news-related videos, you likely have encountered this video persistently getting shown on the Recommended Videos section of YouTube. It’s somewhat fortunate for De Lima that Senator Trillanes was there at the Senate hearing to call out the hypocrisy of the Espinosa-De Lima photo. Trillanes argued [...]

This week the Senate conducted a hearing on the death of Mayor Espinosa (allegedly a case of EJK) where the issue of De Lima’s connection to Kerwin Espinosa was discussed once more. Notably, the Senate hearing spent a good amount of time treating De Lima’s photo with Kerwin Espinosa as if it were some substantial evidence. Dick Gordon, for one, made it a point to raise several questions and his usual monologues to highlight De Lima’s alleged involvement. He succeeded in convincing Dayan to change his version of the date when De Lima supposedly met Kerwin Espinosa in Baguio.

Duterte’s supporters apparently found the “guilt-by-picture-taking” scene in the Senate very useful. A few hours after the hearing, at least one pro-Duterte YouTube account already uploaded a video with a sensational text. If you happen to be accessing YouTube from the Philippines and you regularly view politics or news-related videos, you likely have encountered this video persistently getting shown on the Recommended Videos section of YouTube.

It’s somewhat fortunate for De Lima that Senator Trillanes was there at the Senate hearing to call out the hypocrisy of the Espinosa-De Lima photo. Trillanes argued that if guilt can be proven by picture taking, Duterte himself has already been found guilty of protecting a drug lord as he was in at least two photo side by side with Peter Lim, a Cebuano businessman who Duterte once accused to be a drug lord, and confirmed by PDEA to be the same Peter Lim in their target list. Trillanes makes sense here but only when it comes to assailing the propaganda value of the photo. He scored points in trying to tone down the ability of the photo to affect the gullible.

Senator Lacson disagreed with Trillanes, arguing that the Duterte-Lim and Espinosa-De Lima photos are different because of the presence of the accusation and testimonies against De Lima. There are no allegations and testimonies that Duterte received drug money from Lim. Lacson actually makes greater sense in this assertion.

The irony is that Trillanes tried to show the irony of using a picture to prove the guilt of De Lima when Duterte himself was also in photos with an alleged drug lord. Somehow, he tried to demonstrate that De Lima could feel some degree of support or protection in a Senate hearing. In the end, he only proved that there are more senators who are not in De Lima’s favor. The Senate, like the House of Representatives, is still not a hospitable turf.

De Lima was being “brave” facing Dayan and Espinosa in the Senate, believing that she was in a place where she can somehow put up a fight. The irony is that even her fellow senators chose to play along the scheme of her adversaries. In the end, the Senate hearing showed her lack of fortitude in strongly facing her opponents. She was shown as an emotional accused public official who was trying to gain sympathy and was slightly trying to do a Miriam in trying to assert her authority over a resource person and calling out a spectator in the hearing. Manny Pacquiao also expressed his opinion that Espinosa and Dayan were lying, but his statement was not to De Lima’s favor. He actually implied that they were lying and that De Lima was being protected by the selective “truths” of the two.

Ironies in Philippine politics abound but as usual they don’t really stir a good amount of response. They can just make some people grin, smirk, or utter some sensible and not so sensible comments, but they don’t really elicit meaningful reactions. Well this post, too, is an irony. It’s hoping to make sense but most of the readers who will stumble upon it will likely just dismiss the observations above and its goal to expose irony will just to be buried amongst the dissenting comments and the tons of trolling content online.

The attempt to expose ironies here is ironically unlikely to succeed, although there’s also that ironic possibility that some will realize that this post’s pessimistic outlook over the success of this post in highlighting ironies can be appreciated.

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/isnt-ironic-trump-saving-ph-us-ties-dutertes-battle-oligarchs-guilt-groufie-part-2-2/feed/018410Isn’t it ironic? Trump saving PH-US ties, Duterte’s battle against oligarchs, guilt by groufie (Part 1 of 2)http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/isnt-it-ironic-trump-saving-ph-us-ties-dutertes-battle-against-oligarchs-guilt-by-groufie-part-1-of-2/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/isnt-it-ironic-trump-saving-ph-us-ties-dutertes-battle-against-oligarchs-guilt-by-groufie-part-1-of-2/#respondWed, 07 Dec 2016 16:46:50 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18408Trump’s win appears to have softened Duterte’s stance towards the US. There’s no running out of ironies in the Philippines, especially when it comes to the political scene. Every week, there’s some new form of incongruity in statements and events that some may find amusing but most of the time, these ironies tend to disappoint or should bother discerning Filipinos. When viewed with greater discernment, these ironies can reflect hypocrisy, prevarication, double standards, inconsistencies, and rampant flip-flopping in Philippine politics. Trump restoring PH-US ties? Ironically, Donald Trump, the then presidential candidate who was feared to negatively impact the Philippines with his pronouncements regarding immigration and job outsourcing, appears to be the US leader who is set to restore US-PH ties. If everything Duterte reported about his more than 7-minute phone conversation with Donald Trump were true, the Philippines can breathe in relief. Trump’s win appears to have softened Duterte’s stance towards the US. He probably expected Clinton to win as he once referred to her as a good president, and Trump a good candidate. But the unexpected happened and the inexperienced and abrasive Donald Trump is now set to become the 45th president of the most powerful nation in the [...]

There’s no running out of ironies in the Philippines, especially when it comes to the political scene. Every week, there’s some new form of incongruity in statements and events that some may find amusing but most of the time, these ironies tend to disappoint or should bother discerning Filipinos. When viewed with greater discernment, these ironies can reflect hypocrisy, prevarication, double standards, inconsistencies, and rampant flip-flopping in Philippine politics.

Trump restoring PH-US ties?

Ironically, Donald Trump, the then presidential candidate who was feared to negatively impact the Philippines with his pronouncements regarding immigration and job outsourcing, appears to be the US leader who is set to restore US-PH ties. If everything Duterte reported about his more than 7-minute phone conversation with Donald Trump were true, the Philippines can breathe in relief.

Trump’s win appears to have softened Duterte’s stance towards the US. He probably expected Clinton to win as he once referred to her as a good president, and Trump a good candidate. But the unexpected happened and the inexperienced and abrasive Donald Trump is now set to become the 45th president of the most powerful nation in the world. It’s implausible that Duterte is being friendly with Trump because he’s afraid of what an equally careless and impulsive Trump would do in response to his insults. However, this seems to be a common taunt from critics. Duterte is accused of cowering to Trump although the more probable scenario is that Duterte is being nice to Trump because Trump has not criticized him…yet. It’s highly likely that the Filipino president will be more vicious in his attacks against Trump (compared to his treatment of Obama) the moment the new US leader starts criticizing him over issues like extrajudicial killings.

Duterte claims that Trump is supporting his bloody drug war but it’s difficult to ascertain if this is true. Similarly, it’s uncertain if Trump really invited Duterte to visit the US. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, after all, said that the US president-elect did not specifically invite Duterte. Trump’s team, in its press release on the Trump-Duterte phone call, also does not mention anything about Duterte’s claims. Regardless, what’s important for now is that the presidents of the US and the Philippines are in good terms. The two leaders known for their overbearing personalities have not become abrasive to each other, at least for now.

Duterte’s battle against oligarchs

Philippines Duterte

Duterte’s election campaign back then was deemed promising as the “hesitant” presidential candidate declared that he was not going to rely on big businesses for his campaign funds. He even made Emilio Aguinaldo a buzzword when he said his funds were donated by “Emilio Aguinaldo,” and his supporters interpreted it as “the smallest people who can only afford an Emilio Aguinaldo para sa kampanya ng TunayNaPagbabago.”

His supposedly cash-strapped campaign could not compare to those of his opponents. However, it was later revealed, as reported by PCIJ, that the Duterte-Cayetano tandem already spent PhP715,943,742 on ads before the official start of the campaign period. For the official campaign period, Duterte reported more than PhP371 million in expenses based on the State of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) he submitted. These numbers are not as high as those of other candidates but they certainly belie the idea that his campaign lacked funding.

Just recently, it was revealed that almost all of the millions spent by Duterte for his campaign came from only 13 extremely rich individual donors (who contributed amounts ranging from PhP5 million to PhP75 million) and 18 other well-off individuals who also gave big enough contributions, from PhP1 million to over PhP3 million. The so-called small contributions from his diehard supporters don’t even make up 0.5% of the total amount he spent for his presidential campaign. The biggest campaign contributors are Antonio Floirendo Jr. and Alan Peter Cayetano who gave PhP75 million and PhP71 million ,respectively.

So what can be expected from Duterte’s battle against oligarchs now? The points mentioned above certainly don’t bode well with the supposed struggle to keep businessmen from influencing the government. There are even accusations, mostly based on what happened to Bobby Ongpin, that he has been attacking the so-called oligarchs only to have them replaced with his own set of “oligarchs.” Duterte’s “oligarchy battle” and pronouncements about putting a stop to online gambling in the country have led to the plunge of Philweb’s share prices, which allowed Gregorio Araneta, the husband of Irene Marcos, to buy Philweb’s majority stake at a tremendously low price (PhP2.60 per share, from more than PhP20). Philweb’s value is expected to recover now that Duterte has expressed openness to compromises regarding his previous stand of ending online gambling in the country.

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/isnt-it-ironic-trump-saving-ph-us-ties-dutertes-battle-against-oligarchs-guilt-by-groufie-part-1-of-2/feed/0184084RHome: A holistic program to provide free formation houses for drug dependents nationwidehttp://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/4rhome-free-formation-house-drug-dependents/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/4rhome-free-formation-house-drug-dependents/#respondSun, 04 Dec 2016 07:23:29 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18375 At a recent lunch gathering last November 30, 2016, several of the Cabinet spouses, along with some of the Metro Manila mayors’ spouses, as well as lady mayors, met for the first time to announce the launch of their first project together — 4RHome — a program meant to provide a free formation house in every local government unit (LGU) for Filipino drug dependents. Cabinet secretaries Andanar, Dureza and Ubial with Duterte Cabinet Spouses Association, Metro Manila Mayor’s Foundation, and Ricky Reyes Ricky Reyes (more popularly called Mother Ricky), a known philanthropist who set up a vocational school and is heavily involved in health care for poor, cancer-stricken children, has now taken on another endeavor — to actively help the Cabinet spouses and their partners in drug reformation through 4RHome. The Project 4RHome is a special program designed for President Duterte’s campaign against drugs. It aims to provide a free formation house in every LGU to house, treat and reform drug dependents who voluntarily surrender. The program requires that these drug dependents stay in the formation house until they are ready for reintegration into society. The enormity of the drug problem was only seen after the new administration came in. To even begin to address [...]

At a recent lunch gathering last November 30, 2016, several of the Cabinet spouses, along with some of the Metro Manila mayors’ spouses, as well as lady mayors, met for the first time to announce the launch of their first project together — 4RHome — a program meant to provide a free formation house in every local government unit (LGU) for Filipino drug dependents.

Ricky Reyes (more popularly called Mother Ricky), a known philanthropist who set up a vocational school and is heavily involved in health care for poor, cancer-stricken children, has now taken on another endeavor — to actively help the Cabinet spouses and their partners in drug reformation through 4RHome.

The Project

4RHome is a special program designed for President Duterte’s campaign against drugs. It aims to provide a free formation house in every LGU to house, treat and reform drug dependents who voluntarily surrender. The program requires that these drug dependents stay in the formation house until they are ready for reintegration into society.

The enormity of the drug problem was only seen after the new administration came in. To even begin to address it will definitely take a multi-sectoral approach nationwide.

While there are large drug reformation centers being put up, like the recent one inaugurated in Nueva Ecija, the government realizes that it is not practical to uproot and transport drug dependents in other regions of the country. Recognizing that part of their reformation is family support, 4RHome is meant to be their reformation facility right where they live.

The Partners

The 4RHome program will be under the Office of the President, with the Duterte Cabinet Spouses Association taking the lead. For this program to scale nationwide, the cooperation and assistance of all LGUs and non-government organizations (NGOs) will be important.

Two mayors, Mayor Lani Cayetano of Taguig and Mayor Carmelita “Menchie” Aguilar Abalos, were also present to lend their support for the 4RHome program. In attendance also was the President of the Metro Manila Mayor’s Spouses Foundation Inc., Janet Olivarez, who is the wife of Paranaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano

Mandaluyong Mayor Menchie Abalos

Janet Olivarez, President, Metro Manila Mayor’s Foundation

Alelee Andanar, wife of PCO Sec. Martin Andanar

Roles of Each Partner

Each partner of 4RHome is responsible for different aspects to ensure the success and sustainability of the program.

Office of the President – responsible for the launch and campaign of 4RHome and ensures its full implementation

NGOs – responsible for providing the formation house

Ricky Reyes Foundation – responsible for gathering different donors to adopt different modules (or areas) of the 4RHome and put up the center. The foundation will also coordinate with different government agencies to provide the different activities for those who will be housed, seek LGU assistance for counseling, improvement and development of the center, and make a report to the Office of the President.

LGUs – responsible for launching the 4RHome in their locale, meet different barangay chairmen to announce the program, provide a budget for security and kitchen personnel, and invite sports enthusiasts.

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/12/4rhome-free-formation-house-drug-dependents/feed/018375Millennials: From ‘couch potatoes’ to street warriors; from Katipunan to Luneta (Part 2)http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/millennials-couch-potatoes-street-warriors-katipunan-luneta-part-2/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/millennials-couch-potatoes-street-warriors-katipunan-luneta-part-2/#respondTue, 29 Nov 2016 06:44:16 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18351 To read Part 1 of this article, click here. But it was still raining. Would the students come? They did! Slowly the area around the stage began filling up as groups of young people started arriving. My earlier fears that students from the Quezon City side would not show up was unfounded. Ateneo was there! So were UP Diliman and Miriam College. I later found out that some of them held lightning protests in their school vicinity first before piling into jeeps to come to Luneta. My generation, the generation that had the most right (and reason) to protest the Marcos burial because we lived through martial law, was compromised. And yet here were the young ones, the millennials, who only heard of martial law from their history subjects, marching and protesting with us. Luneta crowd (photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado). Some rights reserved. Despite the muddy grounds, I walked around three times to feel the emotions of the people. Everywhere I looked, I saw YOUNG PEOPLE! Some came as a family, with plastic or aluminum sheets on the ground for sitting on. Others came as a barkada or as a school group. The young crowd was fully immersed and [...]

They did! Slowly the area around the stage began filling up as groups of young people started arriving. My earlier fears that students from the Quezon City side would not show up was unfounded. Ateneo was there! So were UP Diliman and Miriam College. I later found out that some of them held lightning protests in their school vicinity first before piling into jeeps to come to Luneta.

My generation, the generation that had the most right (and reason) to protest the Marcos burial because we lived through martial law, was compromised. And yet here were the young ones, the millennials, who only heard of martial law from their history subjects, marching and protesting with us.

Luneta crowd (photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado). Some rights reserved.

Despite the muddy grounds, I walked around three times to feel the emotions of the people. Everywhere I looked, I saw YOUNG PEOPLE! Some came as a family, with plastic or aluminum sheets on the ground for sitting on. Others came as a barkada or as a school group.

The young crowd was fully immersed and connected to what was happening onstage.

I saw a girl standing in the midst of groups of people. She was alone and she had her back turned to me. I immediately noticed a handwritten cardboard placard hanging behind her back. It read: “No infrastructure, no accomplishment can ever justify all the killings, tortures & enforced disappearances during Martial Law”.

I came closer, took a photo of what she had written, then moved away to take more pictures. But as I backtracked, I saw her again. Alone. So I went up and asked her who she was with. She came alone. All the way from Bulacan!!! I asked if anyone in her family followed current events and she said no, that all she knew about martial law was from what she read. But she was there to be with us and to make a stand for her future. I was so stunned. Here was a millennial with no support group, no friends, no family to keep her company. But she came anyway. I kept hugging her and telling her that I was so happy to meet her and that she was bringing back all the hope that I thought I had lost. Dear P, you just lit my candle of hope again!

As darkness fell, the lights on the stage and around it were dimmed. It was around 6:30pm. Everyone was asked to light up their phones. In a moving display of unity, courage, determination and spunk, a sea of millennials mixed in with older people, raised their arms with lighted mobile phones. This was the new “millennial candlelights” symbol, so appropriate for the digital generation.

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some rights reserved.

The protest chants at the rally were familiar to the martial law activists and survivors. These were the rally chants in the 70s and 80s.

“Marcos, Hitler, Diktador, Tuta”

“Makibaka, huwag matakot”

Now, the millennials are taking up these same chants against the same family that is attempting to rise up from the ashes, reestablish themselves in power, and revise history as we know it. But they are also creating new protest slogans that mirror their generation like “Marcos, Diktador, Di Bayani”, “Ang Tao, Ang Bayan – Ngayon ay Lumalaban” and transforming slogans into hashtags. They are doing it THEIR WAY!

“Marcos is No Hero”

#IRefuse2MoveOn

“No erasures, no revisions”

“Never too young to (forget); “Botox Mo Pera ng Bayan”

The Other Side of the Millennial ‘Coin’

While my hopes are up now, I am also praying for that “other side” of the millennial ‘coin’. From what I have observed and experienced online, a good number of the trolls, hackers, and purveyors of fake news appear to be millennials too.

This is a challenge I pose to the millennials who are now socially aware:

Bring your social media influence and engagement to more of your generation. Engage offline. Discuss issues with your friends and their friends. Reach out to the millennials who are less fortunate than you, may not have ready access to the internet, or may not be fully aware of what is happening. Read up more and learn from credible sites about martial law and about elevating your social media engagement to do good for the country. Denounce the evils of trolling, black propaganda, proliferation of fake news, etc that some millennials do. Show them there are much better ways to earn a living honestly. My generation may have failed you in some way but you have shown us that you have the capacity inside you to make the future what you want it to be.

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/millennials-couch-potatoes-street-warriors-katipunan-luneta-part-2/feed/018351Millennials: From ‘couch potatoes’ to street warriors; from Katipunan to Luneta (Part 1)http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/millennials-couch-potatoes-street-warriors-katipunan-luneta-part-1/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/millennials-couch-potatoes-street-warriors-katipunan-luneta-part-1/#respondTue, 29 Nov 2016 06:41:10 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18326MILLENNIALS. Deserving or not, millennials have oftentimes been placed into a box and labeled. This article juxtaposes the average millennial between their good and not so good traits: Ambitious but lazy Hyper-connected but self-obsessed Non-conformist but materialistic Hard to motivate but more engaged And there are other labels as well — couch potatoes, easily distracted, impatient, not easy to please, and I could keep going… (from http://charuchoudha.blogspot.com) Before we write them off as being more interested in their social life than what is going on in the world around them, look again. These past few days, the Filipino millennials have began redeeming themselves. Far from being the politically apathetic generation that my generation has viewed them to be, these “couch potatoes” are getting out and pouring into the streets of the metros. What started it all When the Supreme Court (SC) ruled 9-5-1 in favor of having Ferdinand Marcos buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, something inside of me died. These justices came from my generation. Surely they knew of its horrors. How could they vote the way they did? In whispered conversations growing up during martial law, I heard stories about the atrocities committed. While studying in the US, [...]

]]>MILLENNIALS. Deserving or not, millennials have oftentimes been placed into a box and labeled. This article juxtaposes the average millennial between their good and not so good traits:

Ambitious but lazy Hyper-connected but self-obsessed Non-conformist but materialistic Hard to motivate but more engaged

And there are other labels as well — couch potatoes, easily distracted, impatient, not easy to please, and I could keep going…

(from http://charuchoudha.blogspot.com)

Before we write them off as being more interested in their social life than what is going on in the world around them, look again.

These past few days, the Filipino millennials have began redeeming themselves. Far from being the politically apathetic generation that my generation has viewed them to be, these “couch potatoes” are getting out and pouring into the streets of the metros.

What started it all

When the Supreme Court (SC) ruled 9-5-1 in favor of having Ferdinand Marcos buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, something inside of me died. These justices came from my generation. Surely they knew of its horrors. How could they vote the way they did? In whispered conversations growing up during martial law, I heard stories about the atrocities committed. While studying in the US, I got to meet Charito Planas when she visited our university and spoke to the Filipino students there. She shared her self-exile story with me including how she had to work in an eatery, serve customers, and mop floors just to earn a living. I felt betrayed by 9 the Supreme Court justices.

To make matters worse, even before the SC decision became final and executory, the news broke that Marcos was to be buried on November 18 at noon, without regard for the motions for reconsideration still to be filed, and in the absence of President Duterte who was at the APEC meeting in Peru. How could all these military resources be mobilized that quickly with people in government continuing to deny that they knew the burial would be on that same day?

With everyone caught off guard (we were still planning to attend protest rallies set for the 25th and 30th of November to ask the SC to reconsider their decision), I dropped what I had to do that day and headed for Katipunan. I was at EDSA when Cardinal Sin called for people to surround the two camps and protect the rebel soldiers. I had to go out again this time to once again protest what the 9 SC justices found acceptable – allowing a deposed dictator to be buried on sacred grounds (the Libingan ng mga Bayani) as a hero!

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some rights reserved.

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some rights reserved.

The Millennial Surprise

I was not expecting the sea of millennials.

Students from UP marched towards Katipunan to merge with Miriam College and Ateneo. While it was unfortunate that the horrendous traffic in Katipunan prevented me from reaching the rallyists in time, I saw evidence of newfound courage and determination in these kids, supported by their respective schools. As I walked along Katipunan with friends, my heavy heart began to lift again. There was hope!!! These millennials, who were not even born yet during martial law, were taking up my generation’s slack. They were willing to fight for something that they just learned about in their history classes!!!

The trek to Luneta

On November 25, the day of our Black Friday protest rally at Luneta, it was raining on and off. There was not much reason to be cheerful. I knew the Luneta grounds would be muddy. The traffic going to Luneta would surely be bad. And worse of all, the bad weather could keep students and professionals away. It took some effort to keep my hopes up and stay positive.

Meeting up with a few friends at a nearby Starbucks cheered me up a bit. I was in good company. Still, in my mind, I kept asking, will the students come? The University Belt and Taft students had a great chance of coming. Will Ateneo and Miriam students show up? Someone showed me an announcement that Ateneo and Miriam were going to hold their protest rally in Katipunan to coincide with the Luneta rally. Was that going to be it?

Call time in Luneta for all was 4pm. I got there shortly before 4pm and noticed that the tents on both sides of the stage were filled with senior citizens. They were early!

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/millennials-couch-potatoes-street-warriors-katipunan-luneta-part-1/feed/018326The millennial candlelights at the Marcos Hero’s burial protesthttp://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/marcos-heros-burial-protest/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/marcos-heros-burial-protest/#respondSun, 27 Nov 2016 12:31:49 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18277MILLENNIAL CANDLELIGHTS: Cellphone flashlights stood for the candlelights lit in protest of the impending martial law – Venzie Crisostomo Tayo ang liwanag sa dilim Ang dagitab sa kawalan Ang alab na di huhupa Ang apoy na di mamamatay Tayo ang pag-asa na di mabibigo Mabuhay ang sambayanang Pilipino! (Renato Reyes) The “millennial candlelights “, the cellphone flashlights, symbolize the light of hope. This is the passing of the torch that our youth will continue on as they fight against the revival of the Marcosian ideology that the dictator himself had spawned in the 1970s. If there is any consolation from the burial of President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga bayani, it is this show of protest coming from the millennials themselves. My heart is touched by their show of hands. I have hope for their future. Looking back at the Marcos burial protest in Luneta on November 25, 2016, I have no words to describe the rally. Yes, I saw their rage and passion as they clenched their fists up in the air . I can’t help but feel overwhelmed as I reminisced the mid-seventies when I too raised my fist in at a lightning rally in Luneta : “Marcos , hitler, [...]

The “millennial candlelights “, the cellphone flashlights, symbolize the light of hope. This is the passing of the torch that our youth will continue on as they fight against the revival of the Marcosian ideology that the dictator himself had spawned in the 1970s. If there is any consolation from the burial of President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga bayani, it is this show of protest coming from the millennials themselves. My heart is touched by their show of hands. I have hope for their future. Looking back at the Marcos burial protest in Luneta on November 25, 2016, I have no words to describe the rally.

Yes, I saw their rage and passion as they clenched their fists up in the air . I can’t help but feel overwhelmed as I reminisced the mid-seventies when I too raised my fist in at a lightning rally in Luneta : “Marcos , hitler, diktador, tuta”. We, the youth during martial law fought hard to topple the dictator in many lightning rallies in Luneta, Manila, Quezon City until the People Power in 1986 . Today’s youth , the millennials can also “win this battle on how to properly dispose the dictator’s carcass and to correct revisionism”.

“If you were at the Luneta or watched the telecasts and livestreams, you would’ve noticed that it was a different rally. Cameras were always pointing at the crowd, and their images flashed onstage. Even tweets and Facebook posts found their way to the stage. We read the rallyists’ witty, funny and furious placards. We announced the rallies elsewhere.

The difference is in the mindset. CARMMA [CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE RETURN OF THE MARCOSES TO MALACAÑANG] views the people as the stars and heroes of the Luneta rally and in changemaking. Ask any of the speakers and performers who graced the stage about the sight they saw.

That beautiful sight — when you guys chanted, when you raised your fists, when you jeered Imeldific, when you gave love to the battle-tested veterans and the millennials and especially when you raised your phones to light up Luneta — showed who are the real stars. (May ulan pa!)”

Let me show you the creativity of the millennials and the others who trooped to Luneta despite the showers and muddy ground. You will see how angry they are , some in a funny, gross and creative way.

“Yes , I didn’t experience Martial Law but I didn’t have to because they fought for me.

The protests were not only in Luneta but nationwide and globally. The CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE RETURN OF THE MARCOSES TO MALACAÑANG (CARMMA) , the organizers overcame a lot of online disinformation, intimidation, an uncooperative weather, and limited time to prepare and so on. Despite all these obstacles, the people showed up to be counted and heard.

According to Nato Reyes, “the first to arrive were some seniors dressed in black and a family from Cavite. The parents, I met during our UP activist days. They brought their “grown up” kids. (I would later see other UP activists who brought their kids). There were others who came from far away provinces. A group of St. Scho alumni then arrived. They were the early birds. Then the marching contingents arrived. Then more and more people started to come after office hours and after class. Folks from all walks of life. They came in black. They brought umbrellas. Former senators, religious, young professionals, artists, and the veterans of the anti-dictatorship struggle.”

Bayan congratulated “the Filipino people protesting across the nation and overseas today, in a historic display of indignation against the Marcos burial. Today’s anti-Marcos protest will be the biggest and most widespread since the dictator was booted out of power in 1986. It is a testament to the commitment of the Filipino people to the call “Never Again”

The issue is not merely the corpse of Marcos Sr. Neither is it only about the rehabilitation of one discredited family name. Rehabilitation is just a prerequisite for a more sinister purpose. And the purpose is the revival of the Marcosian ideology that the dictator himself had spawned in the 1970s.

In a statement from CARMMA, they elaborated that “the Marcosian ideology is a governance framework justifying strongman rule, that it cannot go wrong, that it cannot be doubted, because the ruler has “all the best intentions” for country and people. Its sense of “nationalism”, “democracy”, and “development” is anchored on authoritarian populism and right-wing politics that harbor no dissent and allow for the perpetuation of antipeople, anti-Filipino policies.”

Whatever happens to the Duterte-Marcos alliance and the Marcos burial, I feel secure in the knowledge that “the widespread political awakening resulting from it….will be the wellspring of people’s opposition to the return of the Marcoses to power. The fight will go on. ”

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/marcos-heros-burial-protest/feed/018277A peek in the sex scandal laden world of teens?http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/peek-sex-scandal-laden-world-teens/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/peek-sex-scandal-laden-world-teens/#commentsWed, 23 Nov 2016 15:56:45 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18257This month is unusual in terms of the messages I received from recipients of negative online experience. Well because it involve minors, voyeurism and sex scandal. A parent reported how a fellow minor forced their kid to strip, while being photoed. Pictures were eventually distributed and tagged sex scandal. A guardian reported how a minor was tricked to stripping on cam, and her private pics eventually landed on a sex scandal blog A mother reported that her daughters’s topless pic were being passed around by classmates Another mother reported that a semi-nude picture of her daughter were being shared in Facebook and Instagram A minor reported that her private pics landed on a sex scandal porn site and the site disclosed her Facebook account, therefore, flooding her messenger and posts with nasty comments. Likewise, some teen followers of mine hinted of two very recent sex scandals that went viral on Facebook. The first is said to be a 3 part series involving high school students who had sex while their friends watch and film them. The more recent sex scandal, according to them, is also a 3 part video involving a young model. Though stories like these were not captured [...]

]]>This month is unusual in terms of the messages I received from recipients of negative online experience. Well because it involve minors, voyeurism and sex scandal.

A parent reported how a fellow minor forced their kid to strip, while being photoed. Pictures were eventually distributed and tagged sex scandal.

A guardian reported how a minor was tricked to stripping on cam, and her private pics eventually landed on a sex scandal blog

A mother reported that her daughters’s topless pic were being passed around by classmates

Another mother reported that a semi-nude picture of her daughter were being shared in Facebook and Instagram

A minor reported that her private pics landed on a sex scandal porn site and the site disclosed her Facebook account, therefore, flooding her messenger and posts with nasty comments.

Likewise, some teen followers of mine hinted of two very recent sex scandals that went viral on Facebook. The first is said to be a 3 part series involving high school students who had sex while their friends watch and film them. The more recent sex scandal, according to them, is also a 3 part video involving a young model.

Though stories like these were not captured by majority of us, apparently, these don’t scape teen-agers. Or at least, on the circles of those who shared the info to me. A quick FB search for the hashtag and keyword revealed how active the minors were in discussing, commenting about the issue, and sharing links to a fake or dead sites.

The Philippines is in top 10 countries suffering from online child exploitation (ages 10-14)

Online child abuse is leading form of Cybercrime in 2014

Tens of thousands are estimated to be abused via webcam and live-stream

One for every four kids are exposed to sexual content

Secondary students are likely to experience online violence.

Those kids who are w/ GF/BF have a higher risk of exposure

Poor kids or those w/ parents who gamble are most likely to experience abuse

So this should not surprise us if our kids learn much about sex, and enticed to engage in, when they’re online.

Pop culture gone wild?

We all know that the our affinity to free speech plus social web brought the culture of “selfie”, “sharing” and “trolls”. The younger generation has been more assertive about themselves, and found a space to harness their creativeness. The key element for these is the ability to share and express in cyber space w/o censure.

However, the same platform meant to add value, was also being used for non value adding negative purposes. Some young people think that censuring them on these activities violate their freedom. On the first place, those who filmed and photographed themselves are to blame if and when these materials were accessed and released in the web, according to their logic.

The exchanges of semi-nude to nude photos, filming of intimate moments with or without consent, and sharing such materials liberally seem to have become “almost” ordinary.

It’s worth noting too, that in the photos and videos being shared, the face of the girls involved were often revealed, thus, they can be identified on Facebook. The face of the boy involve, is almost always hidden.

While the right to free speech is used as a license, the right to privacy, on the other hand, is being mocked. Once a photo or video is shared in the wild, without regard to the person involved and her family, it will be shared and re-shared.

Facebook often plays a cat and mouse game to minors as these videos and pics are uploaded, shared, downloaded, taken down, uploaded again, shared and the cycle continues.

In my gigs at schools, and when discussing these observations with other advocates, we discovered that incidents like these happen inside the bedroom of the kids. Because it’s either there are no one else in the house, or the guardians don’t mind if the kids and their classmates go straight to the bedroom and stay there for a long period of time. And because most kids have smartphones they are free to film. And if data service or internet is available, then sharing is inevitable.

School premises, at certain times, also becomes a venue for such escapades. Incidents like this happen during school activities where students converge on a single area, and the adventurous ones look for a secluded place to do their act, and film themselves too.

Of interest on this discussion is the findings UNICEF survey on the National Baseline On Violence Against Kids, these four contributes to the risky online behavior of minors: (1) Parents, (2) Economic condition, (3) peers and (4) age

Social engineering is the art manipulating the tendency of another person to trust, and to use that trust to make a person do something beneficial for the manipulator.

Social engineering is the mother of all abuses, it can lead to any form of abuse, online or not. And in the context of our discussion, kids are vulnerable to older kids and adults.

Not exactly innocent

A fellow advocate shared a story about a 17 year old girl who started with on-cam escapades for fun to Facebook friends. It eventually lead to a “for a fee” on-cam engagement. This eventually led to “walking”, a term being used for an escort. The girl since have amend her ways.

But my advocate friend claimed that since video chat services, and mobile apps abound, flirting on cam seems to be part of the online culture of the young people.

Should we hold someone accountable?

Parents are the first on the firing line when their kids go wayward. Others will point to the school for the values formation, and then the government for not doing enough to mitigate situations that temps our youth to cross over to the dark side. But should they be held accountable, or let the kids be accountable for their folly?

What can be done?

In your opinion, should adults do something to intervene or should we let the younger generation learn from these, and as they mature, correct these abuses?

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/peek-sex-scandal-laden-world-teens/feed/1418257Tools and strategies to determine fake news, half-truths, from real newshttp://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/fake-news-vs-real-news/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/fake-news-vs-real-news/#respondWed, 23 Nov 2016 13:16:51 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18225There are tools and strategies to determine fake news from real news. It is crucial for social media users to triple check sources and fact check news before sharing them. The quote “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on his shoes” has no substantive support for assigning the saying to Mark Twain. “ How delightfully ironic, if true. These days, there is the fake news problem especially those that are half-truths or misleading . Even US President Obama believes that “we won’t know what to fight for” . Gemma Mendoza of Rappler explains it well, “the enemy of truth is not the outright lie, because an outright lie is easy to see and expose. The enemy of truth is the half-truth: lies coated in generalizations, which may have some truth in them but are actually meant to deceive. We should be more discerning and critical and on guard. The antidote: demand for specifics. ” Lies interspersed with part truths is what hypnotically fools people. Screencap from Techcrunch.com . Some rights reserved During the recent US Elections, a BuzzFeed News analysis found that top fake election news stories generated more total engagement on Facebook than top election stories [...]

]]>There are tools and strategies to determine fake news from real news. It is crucial for social media users to triple check sources and fact check news before sharing them.

The quote “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on his shoes” has no substantive support for assigning the saying to Mark Twain. “ How delightfully ironic, if true.

These days, there is the fake news problem especially those that are half-truths or misleading . Even US President Obama believes that “we won’t know what to fight for” . Gemma Mendoza of Rappler explains it well, “the enemy of truth is not the outright lie, because an outright lie is easy to see and expose. The enemy of truth is the half-truth: lies coated in generalizations, which may have some truth in them but are actually meant to deceive. We should be more discerning and critical and on guard. The antidote: demand for specifics. ”

Lies interspersed with part truths is what hypnotically fools people.

Screencap from Techcrunch.com . Some rights reserved

During the recent US Elections, a BuzzFeed News analysis found that top fake election news stories generated more total engagement on Facebook than top election stories from 19 major news outlets combined.

In recent events in the Philippines, Mocha Uson shared a misleading post in her facebook which I think was an attempt to malign school authorities in St Scholastica’s College (SSC) who enjoined their students to protest against the Marcos burial. In her post, Uson asked why it was necessary for the students to join the protests in the first place but she made it appear that the students seemed to be forced into it. She showed a blank form.

Melay Lapeña, an alumna of SCC said ” the students and parents were not forced to participate. A circular had been issued the day before, requesting that parents allow their children to attend the noise barrage to protest the Supreme Court decision on Marcos’ burial.

Why is it easy to be deceived by fake news?

It’s not easy to make anything go viral but there are certainly some things that fake news stories have in common that make them successful. Firstly, fake news are never boring. It appeals to our emotions.

Secondly, they play into a worldview . This is similar to the appeal to our emotions. Stories that confirm our worldview are often ones we are willing to share most. I have fallen into this trap too. If I believe strongly on an issue, I tend to easily share a news that fits my worldview. The best course is not to share right away. Do a triple check.

In “How your brain decides without you“, the author adds that “we form our beliefs based on what comes to us from the world through the window of perception, but then those beliefs act like lens, focusing on what they want to see.” We live in a world where in some sense, almost everything we see can be construed in multiple ways. As a result, we are constantly choosing between duck and rabbit.

The first is easy to spot. The second , the hyperpartisans such as Mocha Uson, Thinking Pinoy, Sass Rogando Sasot , Leah Navarro, Juan Nationalist facebook pages only tell the good news of their side and bad news of the other side. The third one is the most dangerous. They purposely mix a little bit of fact and a lot of fiction. One practice is to pull out a factual report from mainstream news sources and to “spin it”—giving it an entirely new meaning.The themaharlikan.info is one such news site.

Tips in analyzing news sources

There is a wealth of information on how to analyze the reliability of news sources. The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) compiled a list of websites that they believe are unreliable, based on a criteria. The memebuster shares their local list , “Watch out for these fake and satire sites, think before you click, and read before you react”. Spot.ph lists down the 10 satirical news sites and Fake News Sites That you should avoid .

Here are some guidelines specifically about breaking news from NPR’s On The Media.

The first thing one must do to combat the rise of “fake news” is to actually read articles before sharing them. One has to pay attention to the signs that it may be fake as shown by this Washington Post article. Whether the news are from the pro-Duterte or anti-Duterte, the same rules apply to both.

1. Determine whether the article is from a legitimate website

Rappler wrote about websites masquerading as legitimate news sites. Some examples are bbc-channel.com which tries to mimic bbc.com. There iscnn-channel.comtrying to mimic: cnn.com. Then, aljazeera-tv.comtrying to mimic: aljazeera.com. Even theguardian.com is not spared. This site , theguard1an.com just added a number 1 in the word guardian

2. Check the ‘contact us’ page

Even CMFR stresses that “a news website should be accountable for what is posted on its page, and it starts with identifying the people behind it, as well as how they can be contacted so they can be asked to explain errors posted in their sites, among others.”

3. Examine the byline of the reporter and see whether it makes sense

Do a search if the writer has written in other sites or has a LinkEd and other social media networks.

4.Read the article closely and scrutinize the sources

Do a google search to tell quickly if you are reading real news. Prof. Melissa Zimdars says that if the story makes you REALLY ANGRY, it’s probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read wasn’t purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue.

Use the mnemonic IMVAIN :Independent – Multiple – Verify – Authoritative – Informed- Named which I have explained above. You can even use this checklist.

I normally avoid content from viral and trending posts because they are just click bait sites and out to get traffic. They are not there to inform or engage with you.

5. Look at the ads

If the site collects trending and viral news, then they will most likely have ads that have so many pop-ups or a “bunch of sexy ads or links, designed to be clicked — “Celebs who did Porn Movies” or “Naughty Walmart Shoppers Who have no Shame at All” — which you generally do not find on legitimate news sites.”

The responsibility lies in all of us

You can stop fake news being circulated in the first place . Confront the news with six questions:

Who made this?

How was this made?

Why was this made?

When was this made?

What is this missing?

Where do I go from here?

It is crucial for social media users to triple check sources and fact check news before sharing them. “This is key in fighting the spread of lies and fabricated news restricting impact and consequences”.

It looks like DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) is serious in ensuring companies are compliant to the existing labor regulations. I have a client who was visited by a DOLE inspector, this inspector shared that they were given strict instruction by the present DOLE Secretary to inspect establishments in their assigned in areas, and were given goals relative to ending endo.

Majority of PH (Philippine) workers opt to keep mum about their employers’ non-compliance bec. it’s either they are unaware of their rights, or they find it more practical to have a job (though employer is non-compliant). And this is also the reason why the practice of endo and 555 in some companies are tolerated.

DOLE has since held labor summits, released advisories and press releases promising that they will arrived at a win-win solution based on the recommendation from different stakeholders. But the government is hard pressed to fulfill a populist promise, because it has to also protect the interests of (1) micro, small and medium size establishments who will be at the disadvantaged, and (2) legitimate service providers. Left leaning labor unions are demanding the complete abolition of temporary employment contracts, legitimate service providers insists what is needed is only the strict implementation of the existing laws and the business sector warns of a jobless economic growth.

In the midst of this, DOLE reported of not less than 25,000 newly regularized employees this year as a result of the campaign, and they’re aiming ending endo on 2017. DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), on the other hand, submitted a compromised win-win solution:

Workers are hired by legitimate labor outsourcing Service Providers (SP) as approved by DO 18-A

Workers are hired as regulars, with full benefits such as leave credits, 13th month, retirement, SSS, Philhealth, etc.

Workers get deployed or re-deployed when needed, stays as regular status with SP. If no other client, workers enjoy retirement or separation pay, like a usual regular worker.

Companies have flexibility to hire workers as regular or outsource due to seasonality or specific functions, so companies can focus on building the business.

What is crucial is the compliance of service providers in giving full benefits to the workers. Due diligence needed if SP pays its workers full benefits. Principal companies should black list erring SPs because they can also be impleaded. SP associations should also police their ranks.

DTI claims that the proposal is different with the current practice because:

The regular worker with full benefits has permanent status (vs current, co-terminus with project). Thus the worker must be redeployed to another principal company if the former principal company cuts the contract. If the worker cannot be redeployed, he/she can enjoy a retirement or separation pay like a regular worker in a company whichever is applicable.

Retirement benefits or separation will be mandatory (vs current where only some do this depending on the principals. Normally, big companies would do this and pay little more for their retirement fund).

Workers tenure is secured by the SP.

There was also a proposal in the recently concluded labor summit in Davao to pass a P750 national minimum wage for workers in the private sector, and a P16,000 monthly minimum wage for the government employees. But left leaning labor groups argue that such proposals is meant only to tame, not ending endo.

As an HR practitioner, my take on the issue is to strictly implement DO 18-A. On top of that, provide a competitive salary to temporary employees with similar benefits due for a regular employees, albeit pro-rated to the length of contract. In this way, the practice of temporary employees will not be abused at the same time, it will also give employers the elbow room they need to run the business.

]]>http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/ending-endo-keep-promise/feed/018232Hazard resilient agriculture practices in the Philippineshttp://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/hazard-resilient-agriculture-practices-in-philippines/
http://blogwatch.tv/2016/11/hazard-resilient-agriculture-practices-in-philippines/#respondWed, 23 Nov 2016 10:03:28 +0000http://blogwatch.tv/?p=18240One of the news item that caught my attention a few weeks ago was the prediction of scientists that 2017 would be hotter than 2016: The rise in temperature will put not only discomfort us but will put a strain on our health and will have a negative impact on our agriculture. I hope Secretary Pinol and the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Science and Technology work together to mitigate this. In fact mitigate all hazards — natural and man-made What ARE THESE HAZARDS? Natural hazards can geological, meteorological and oceanographical in origin. Specifically, These include: (i) Earthquakes, (ii) Storms, (iii) Tsunamis, (iv) Tidal Surges, (v)Floods, (vi) Sink Holes,(vii) Water Induced Landslide; (viii) Seismic Induced Landslides, (ix) Volcanic Eruptions and (x) Algal Blooms like red tide. On the other hand, Man-made hazards are those that happen because of what man: we did. This may include but not limited to toxic waste, introduction of alien species into the environment, forest fires and nuclear fall-out. In certain instances you will notice a number of natural hazards can be induced or mad worse by our actions, for example rain-induced landslides can occur in areas [...]

]]>One of the news item that caught my attention a few weeks ago was the prediction of scientists that 2017 would be hotter than 2016: The rise in temperature will put not only discomfort us but will put a strain on our health and will have a negative impact on our agriculture. I hope Secretary Pinol and the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Science and Technology work together to mitigate this. In fact mitigate all hazards — natural and man-made

What ARE THESE HAZARDS?

Natural hazards can geological, meteorological and oceanographical in origin. Specifically, These include: (i) Earthquakes, (ii) Storms, (iii) Tsunamis, (iv) Tidal Surges, (v)Floods, (vi) Sink Holes,(vii) Water Induced Landslide; (viii) Seismic Induced Landslides, (ix) Volcanic Eruptions and (x) Algal Blooms like red tide. On the other hand, Man-made hazards are those that happen because of what man: we did. This may include but not limited to toxic waste, introduction of alien species into the environment, forest fires and nuclear fall-out. In certain instances you will notice a number of natural hazards can be induced or mad worse by our actions, for example rain-induced landslides can occur in areas where heavy logging has happened or certain algal blooms have been caused by the dumping of organic waste into the water.

A quick look at our agriculture statistics at will show how hazards can be devastating — (i) Crops destroyed; (ii) Agricultural infrastructures; (iii) And the economic cost may ran into the millions even billions. So what is being done now to solve this?

In the past Government’s primary and publicly visible response has been to survey the damage, provide seedlings, provide machinery, provide livestock, provide agricultural and fishery gears, offer loans, provide alternative livelihood and when possible help expedite crop insurance. To be fair the agriculture officers of each municipality have been doing their best to prepare — educate, assist and warn — farmers against hazards: natural and caused by man.

Perhaps given the worsening global conditions — the constant rise in temperature and frequent-consistent occurrence of hazards it is time to make a more proactive approach.

DUMANGAS, ILOILO

Dumangas is a municipality in Iloilo. As you approach the town the road is flanked on both sides by fish ponds, one leading to the sea and the other leading to the mountains. I have been told that Dumangas sits at the center of a river delta — a prime target for floods and tidal surges.The inland part of Dumangas is devoted to agriculture while the seaward side aside from the fish ponds there is a port where trade is done. As a coastal town one of its main industry is fisheries.

As briefly mentioned before, Due to its location the town is a frequently visited by flood, storm, landslide and even seismic hazards. Given these set of hazards, It is interesting and instructive how Dumangas coped with them and developed a hazard resilient agricultural system.

The Climate Field School and the resident Agro-Met of Dumangas

It turns out that Dumangas has been using the Climate Field School — a farmer education and training school — that couples agriculture and meteorology as a hazard resiliency measure. How do they do this?

Climate Field School uses scientific methods to determine and forecast climate conditions. Then given these forecasts, using agriculture science farmers can implement means to safeguard their livelihoods and their crops.

Dumangas has an automatic weather station and receives weather advisories. More importantly Dumangas also has probably the only Agro-Meteorologist in the country — classified as a weather observer. The Agro-Meteorologist — which has an official item and budget in the municipality — not only forecast but gives the farmers on what to do to mitigate an on coming hazard. This measures include but not limited to the following: (I) planting the specific hazard resilient crops — in times of drought rice is replaced with other plants or vegetables; (ii) If possible crops and aquaculture products are harvested before a hazard comes; and (iii) Planting and fisheries can be put on hold when there is a typhoon or gale warning saving money and lives.

One of the factors that made this successful was the strong support given by the Provincial and Municipal Government who partners with National Government Agencies and Non-Government Organizations. For Dumangas at the Local and Provincial level, credit should be given to the efforts of the Mayors of Dumangas (Mayor Distura and the others ) who institutionalized the Climate Field School and Iloilo’s Provincial Agriculture Officer Toledo who built and firmed up the Climate Field School. Also the role of PAGASA training Dumangas’ weather observer cannot be overlooked.

Empowered by the Climate Field School; Assisted by the resident Agro-Met; And supported by the local government, The farmers of Dumangas have been able to be hazard resilient and avoid economic loss — and even make a profit.

Hazard resilient agricultural practices around the Philippines

This is not a Dumangas phenomenon or practice alone. In Cagayan Province, They also use weather and climate forecasting techniques along side with indigenous and learned agriculture methods to adapt and become resilient. One interesting measure in Cagayan Valley is the raquit an animal/crop bin designed to float during floods to keep the livestock and harvest safe. Anti-drought measures such as shifting to drought/flood resistant crop are used.

To be fair, Farmer Field Schools have been in place and used through out the country. It would require a bit tweaking to convert them into Climate Field Schools.

THE TASK AHEAD

The more daunting task would be the following: (i) To expand the agro-met services around the country so that the expertise on hazard; (ii) To institutionalized the climate field school and the agro-met practices around the country; (iii) To have the farmers and fisherfolk buy in to the concept, importance and economic value of hazard resilient agriculture and fisheries practices; and (iv) Somewhat related, rejuvenate and recruit new blood for the farmer and fishery community at all levels; and you can only do this if agriculture is resilient, profitable and has the support of both National and Local Government.